Favorite Team Based on Year

[Nancy]

1975 Bengals--first time "my" team was really, really, really good; just not quite as good as the Steelers
1981 Bengals--favorite team of all-time in any sport. What's not to like?
2003 Panthers--Cardiac Cats! I'm still recovering from that OT game against the Rams
2006 Colts--'bout freakin' time.

If we were talking baseball, I'd list the '75 and '76 Reds. Nothing like the Big Red Machine.

[GoBigOrGoHome]

1990 Detroit Lions. 12-4 plus their only playoff victory (over Jerrah's 'Boys) since 1957.

If you have a little time to kill and require visual proof that the Motor City Kitties have not always been awful, check out this video. Great stuff.

NFL Films: 1990 Detroit Lions.

[BuckeyeRidley]

Awesome stuff and reasons. I think another one was seeing the 2005 Pittsburgh Steelers. The Chin got one. Bettis retired in his hometown/Super Bowl XL host city of DET (hate that fumble in IND ended in a Big Ben shoestring tackle). Hines Ward got more validation and Al & John signed off ABC for the last time and so did NFL Football.

P.S. You the Man, M. But Manning got that MVP. His numbers were like John Elway's when he won one of his Super Bowls. Its Cool though.

[Pruitt]

Awesome stuff and reasons. I think another one was seeing the 2005 Pittsburgh Steelers. The Chin got one. Bettis retired in his hometown/Super Bowl XL host city of DET (hate that fumble in IND ended in a Big Ben shoestring tackle). Hines Ward got more validation and Al & John signed off ABC for the last time and so did NFL Football.
.

Yeah but... the way they won was an absolute disgrace.

[Dave Lapham]

1972 Dolphins. Not very much sex appeal, but did what nobody else has been able to do....win every game on their schedule. The no-name defense, Larry Cszonka running over people. Losing Griese to a broken leg and the old pro Earl Morral stepping up. They knew how to finish close games, and won every one of them. The definition of the word team. Don Shula was a great coach and put together a tremendous staff of assistants.

[BuckeyeRidley]

Yeah but... the way they won was an absolute disgrace.

Good Point. I like that they won a Super Bowl with Ben Roethlisberger after just one full year of him being a starter and how he was doubted to even succeed. Also, the Steeler organization I thought was due another Championship.

Can't deny the now Officials-Admitted mistakes that was obvious even back then.

[SpartaChris]

1972 Dolphins. Not very much sex appeal, but did what nobody else has been able to do....win every game on their schedule. The no-name defense, Larry Cszonka running over people. Losing Griese to a broken leg and the old pro Earl Morral stepping up. They knew how to finish close games, and won every one of them. The definition of the word team. Don Shula was a great coach and put together a tremendous staff of assistants.

See, I think the 2007 Patriots are a better team than the 1972 Dolphins. The Patriots ultimately went 18-0, winning one more game that season than the Dolphins did. And they did it in the salary cap and free agency era. To me that's a tougher feat.

[Polishguy00]

I mean, obviously I love the 1985 Bears, but there are other team whose bandwagons I jumped on.

I already had a hate-respect relationship with the Niners before the second Super Bowl between them and Bengals. I rooted, even as a little kid, hard for those Bengals.

For the 2006 Colts, I rooted for them right up until the Super Bowl the Bears, of course. (I still say that the game plan almost worked where we allowed the 5 yard play and stiffened in the red zone. With a competent QB and minus one slip on defense, we definitely could have had that game.)

With family in New York, it was easy to jump on the Parcells Giants bandwagon.

Since I always kind of liked McNair and Eddie George is a hero in Columbus, I jumped on that Titans team that year.

[RayFinkle]

See, I think the 2007 Patriots are a better team than the 1972 Dolphins. The Patriots ultimately went 18-0, winning one more game that season than the Dolphins did. And they did it in the salary cap and free agency era. To me that's a tougher feat.

I totally disagree. The '72 Dolphins had the #1 ranked offense AND defense. Not to mention that they played the majority of their season with their 37 year old backup QB. I doubt the '07 Pats would have gone undefeated in the regular season if Matt Cassell had to start a bunch of games.